Watching the Animated Series for the first time as an adult

[Starfleet Engineer]

I remember seeing it as a kid and shunning it. I think it was because of the animation and slow movement of the show. Now, watching it as an adult for the first time I thought I was gonna hate it. To my surprise, these animated episodes seem more aimed at an older audience. The language is sophisticated, for a cartoon. The stories even have some political bent to them and even some sexual overtones. The one thing that kills this series, though, is that it is boring. The Filmation style was too slow and the action was at a minimum. I'm sure this is why I didn't like it as a kid. It's fun to catch the animation bloopers, though. I have one more disc to go and the ones I've liked, so far, are the two Vulcan eps "Yesteryear" and "The Infinite Vulcan." Also, I think I've noticed a few alien species that have been used in Trek novels. I don't imagine the series changes much in the last disc.

I do have a question, though. At the beginning of a couple of discs there is a message that pops up and says that the opinions in the interviews aren't necessarily the opinions of blah, blah, blah. Something like that. Where are these interviews? Are there eastereggs hidden somewhere?

 

[Therin of Andor]

Re: Watching the Animated Series for the first time as an ad

The interviews are on the final disk.

Em/3/Green (of "The Jihad") is a Nasat, whose people have a regular spot in the SCE eBooks from Pocket Books: in the person of P8Blue, aka Pattie. A few Nasat (including red ones) have also appeared in novels, such as "Articles of the Federation".

I once suggested to Michael Jan Friedman that a reptilian character from his "Reunion", "The Valiant" and the "Stargazer" series of books might just be of the same race as Sord ("The Jihad") - and he agreed. So he's a Gnalish!

The Gorn and other alien councillors from "The Time Trap" appear in the sequel eBook, "S.C.E.: Where Time Stands Still".

TAS bridge regulars Arex and M'Ress are time-jumping residents of the USS Trident (Peter David's "New Frontier" novels). Etc.

Track the many tie-in references at: Toon Trek

 

[NCC621]

Re: Watching the Animated Series for the first time as an ad

I had pretty much the opposite reaction when I saw the animated series DVDs. I had fond memories of it from years ago, but was disappointed by both the story content AND the animation art when I saw it recently. I did like "Yesteryear."

 

[Starfleet Engineer]

Re: Watching the Animated Series for the first time as an ad

The story content is bad in some episodes. Particularly the way they end some of them, but I think that comes from being a half hour show and, from what I've read, the rush that was put on some of the early episodes. As far as animation, I thought in some episodes it was very good and the detail was excellent and in others it looked like they were doing the least that they could get by with.

Oh, and the theme music is horrible.

 

[Christopher]

Starfleet Engineer said:
I don't imagine the series changes much in the last disc.

Well, kinda, yeah (assuming the discs are in production order). The last six episodes -- the abbreviated second season -- were not produced under the same insane time pressure as the first season, so there was time to put more care into them. The animation isn't quite as sparse (though it still uses the limited animation style that was standard in American TV at the time), and the acting is more consistent.

 

[Trekwatcher]

I have been watching my TAS DVD's and have also been really enjoying them. I remembered almost all of the episodes but many of them were last seen by my eyes in the 70's (or in a few select cases, in the 90's on VHS), so it is almost like having some "new" Trek to watch again. I did remember really liking "The Slaver Weapon" and think that this is up there with "Yesteryear" in terms of quality. The really interesting thing is that you can see that they are really trying to do good Trek in this admittedly limited format. My wife watched a few of these with me and was surprised that they were shown on saturday mornings, and not in Prime Time. Overall, they are better than I remembered.

 

[Kail]

Re: Watching the Animated Series for the first time as an ad

Starfleet Engineer said:
The story content is bad in some episodes.

As it was with TOS.

Oh, and the theme music is horrible.

I, and others, love the TAS theme. "Different strokes for different folks."
:thumbsup:

 

[Kryton]

Re: Watching the Animated Series for the first time as an ad

I'm honestly surprised Roddenberry didn't use the TOS theme since he held a writing credit on it (for lyrics you NEVER hear anywhere, though I think Jack Black performs it live at Tenacious D concerts).

 

[Noname Given]

Re: Watching the Animated Series for the first time as an ad

Kryton said:
I'm honestly surprised Roddenberry didn't use the TOS theme since he held a writing credit on it (for lyrics you NEVER hear anywhere, though I think Jack Black performs it live at Tenacious D concerts).

Actually, those lyrics were never meant to be used - BUT because GR wrote them, he received an extra roalty fee since he now DID have the writing credit for the TOS theme (and he wasn't alone, many a producer did similar things in the 1960ies to get bigger studio roalty checks. But, it does go further to disprove the belief of some fans that GR did Stra Trek for more 'humanitarian' reasons.

 

[Christopher]

Re: Watching the Animated Series for the first time as an ad

Kryton said:
I'm honestly surprised Roddenberry didn't use the TOS theme since he held a writing credit on it...

Roddenberry didn't make TAS himself. He was an executive consultant on the show, as he was on the Harve Bennett movies, but Filmation's Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott produced it and D.C. Fontana was the head writer. (Remember, later in life he declared TAS non-canonical. He tended to do that with Trek productions that he wasn't directly in charge of.)

Besides, even though GR got half the royalties for reuses of the TOS theme, Alexander Courage got the other half. Filmation would've had to pay out those royalties, and it was more economical to hire their house composers, Yvette Blais and Jeff Michael, to do a pastiche. And a very good pastiche it was.

 

[Kryton]

Re: Watching the Animated Series for the first time as an ad

You say "pastiche" I say "enough variation on a theme to avoid paying very much".

 

[Christopher]

Re: Watching the Animated Series for the first time as an ad

Well, those are both true, and not mutually exclusive. Anyway, as I've pointed out before, the TOS theme is itself kind of a pastiche of "Beyond the Blue Horizon," so I don't see what the problem is.

 

[doctorwho 03]

Re: Watching the Animated Series for the first time as an ad

Kail said:

Starfleet Engineer said:
The story content is bad in some episodes.

As it was with TOS.

Oh, and the theme music is horrible.

I, and others, love the TAS theme. "Different strokes for different folks."
:thumbsup:

Here, here! (Raises glass of scotch and 'green' in a toast.)

 

[Kryton]

Re: Watching the Animated Series for the first time as an ad

Yeah, but does the TAS theme have official LYRICS?

Hah! Didn't think so!

 

[Christopher]

Re: Watching the Animated Series for the first time as an ad

^^Which counts as a point in its favor. Have you heard the TOS-theme lyrics???

 

[Kryton]

Re: Watching the Animated Series for the first time as an ad

Oh, yes...they are HORRID. But they aren't inflicted upon us regularly. Bonus! :thumbsup:

 

[Kail]

Re: Watching the Animated Series for the first time as an ad

Actually, Roddenberry didn't even write those lyrics for the TOS theme. It was a poem he wrote about his airplane many many years before. He just stuck it onto the theme to steal half the royalties.

 

[Maurice]

Re: Watching the Animated Series for the first time as an ad

^^^ You're confusing "Nightingale Woman" from WNMHGB with the Star Trek theme.

My love has wings,
Slender, feathered things
With grace in upswept curve
And tapered tip

***edited to correct the episode abbreviation***

 

[Christopher]

Re: Watching the Animated Series for the first time as an ad

DS9Sega said:
^^^ You're confusing "Nightingale Woman" from COTEOF with the Star Trek theme.

My love has wings,
Slender, feathered things
With grace in upswept curve
And tapered tip

Almost right. "Nightingale Woman" was the poem Roddenberry had written years before, but it was quoted by Gary Mitchell in "Where No Man Has Gone Before." The only alien poet mentioned in "City" was the one from Alnitak ("the far left star in Orion's Belt") who praised "Let me help" even over "I love you."

The lyrics to the TOS theme song were definitely written for the show; they actually include the line "His star trek will go on forever." And they're from the perspective of a woman singing about her lover who's out "wand'ring in starflight," lamenting that he's never coming back to her and hoping that he'll remember her anyway despite all the enticing "star-woman" types out there. Nothing at all to do with a man singing the praises of his airplane.

 

[skylark]

Re: Watching the Animated Series for the first time as an ad

Kryton said:
I'm honestly surprised Roddenberry didn't use the TOS theme since he held a writing credit on it (for lyrics you NEVER hear anywhere, though I think Jack Black performs it live at Tenacious D concerts).

A group called Project Pimento recorded the Star Trek theme with lyrics (and a theremin, no less!) You can hear a sample at:

http://www.projectpimento.com/html/soundsamples.htm

The vocalist comes in about halfway thru the piece.